thismeintiel said:
Well, partly because the X didn't really do anything for them. Sure, they can boast about having the most powerful machine, but its not doing them any good when they are on the same trajectory as before, selling less than half of the PS4. The other part is cost. MS obviously doesn't believe in subsidizing its consoles as much as Sony does, otherwise the XBO could have launched at ~$399, as well as the X. The SAD could have been $150-$200 if they wanted. MS isn't going to want to take massive losses on expensive HW when they are moving their business to be more focused on providing services. I see them aiming at $499, again, but I think the max they will subsidize is ~$50, so the system would cost them ~$550. Sony is in a better position than they were at the launch of the PS4, so will most likely be willing to subsidize theirs more heavily. I think they may aim for $499, too, but will be willing to take a loss of $100-$150, meaning it would cost them $600-650 to make. Add in the fact that Sony will be able to make better deals for their chips, given they will be able to leverage the fact that they have sold ~115M PS4s by the time the PS5 releases (as well as have a proven track record, with their lowest selling home console being ~86M), and Sony could definitely end up with the more powerful machine. |
This, "Sony sold more thus can demand better deals" idea is poor. How many millions do you think they'll pay for in advance? 10 million? 12? 15? 20? No more than 20, which both companies are more than guaranteed to sell.
Prices will drop... They're not going to buy too far in advance for something they're likely to get cheaper... If it doesn't get revised within a year or two. It would be incredibly foolish.
Xbox launched at $499 because of the bundled Kinect. Though could have subsidised harder. I do think ms will have the more expensive console, so we agree here.